The Tale of the Hero and the Champion
by DragonsWillFly
Summary: What would happen if Hawke met the Hero of Ferelden? How would Varric tell the tale? I guess you will have to read to find out! f Hawke/Isabela and f Mahariel/ Leliana pairing. Rated M to be on safe side with language.
1. Prologue

_**A/N: After finishing my second play through of ME3, a Dragon Age story idea popped into my head... and I decided to go with it! **_

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_**Prologue**_

_**By: Captain Isabela**_

Kirkwall- The City of Chains, home of Marian Hawke, the Champion herself, has always been like a cart with three wheels... always threatening to tip over. First the Blight- causing refugees to scurry, like rats abandoning a sinking ship, to its walls causing civil unrest to the citizens who felt as if the Fereldens didn't deserve their hospitality. Then came the Qunari... that was another fine mess. Large horned people walking around that had never had any sort of fun in their whole life, I bet even a bit of scuffling between the sheets would not even get those blighters to smile, but I digress because I had too much of a hand in them being in Kirkwall in the first place to even want to think about the whole thing. And finally there was that lovely time when the mages and the templars decided it would be fun to destroy all of the city and have us get stuck right in the middle of it all. I would have most certainly left then if it wasn't for Little Hawke being stuck in that gaol cell of a place those mages call home. Of course I had to help Marian get her sister out... that whole family grew on me during the time that I have known them.

Blast that damnable dwarf for having me write this forward for his bloody book about Hawke's life after we all left Kirkwall, he knows how much I hate this type of shit. If he never told Marian to talk me into writing this, I would be relaxing on the bow of my own bloody ship... but no, I am stuck in the hold writing by bloody candlelight while Merrill watches in awe at the fact that I don't have a hook for a hand. I love that elf to death but she can be a bit dim at times. Bloody hell... I'm rambling now on a bit of parchment, where was I? Oh yes...

We escaped from the blighted city, leaving it a burning mess after the mages revolted against the templars and Meredith went all mental and we had to kill her. But, as the saying goes... that was never the end of our tale.

And that is what Varric wants to write about in this bloody book of his. (I hope Marian reads over what he writes before we drop him off in Antiva. I don't want him to write anything as embarrassing as he did in the last one about me. I never asked Marian to take me in the middle of the Hanged Man! I mean I did but... we never did it right in the middle of the floor, we went to my room.) Oh bloody hell! This damned book Varric wants to write is about the time we met up with the Hero of Ferelden and her little Chantry sister! This shit happened a few days before we defeated that power hungry knight-commander and it tales the events after we left the shit hole Kirkwall had become.

There Varric... I hope you think twice before making me write a bloody forward to any more of your damned books!

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_**Amendment to Prologue**_

_**By: Varric Tethras**_

Apologies to begin with... I would have tossed the first forward if I didn't find it humorous. But I will remember to never allow Rivaini to write anything for me ever again... that even includes little reminders for what I need to do for the day. I remember she had me running about Lowtown trying to find some guy named Ineeda's wife... then I realised she was only shitting me.

What becomes of a hero when they run across another that's exploits seem so much greater? Do they diminish in greatness or do they together do something far greater than either expected?

I would have never even dreamed to see the day when we would run into the Hero of Ferelden, I thought once a Grey Warden always a Grey Warden. (Also, I would have never thought that she was an elf either.) Before I start rambling again, I would like to say that our meeting up with the Hero, herself, was a chance meeting the first time but when we met her again, it was a time that everyone should now know about. So before anyone tries to say something about anything that I have written, I have a few words... I shit you not!


	2. Chance Meetings

_**A/N: **This is technically my third Dragon Age story, I did a few one-shots for Dragon Age: Origins and decided I wanted to try and meld DAO anf DA2 together. I normally write Harry Potter stories so I am not quite used to this style of writing, but any reviews will be greatly appreciated!_

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"Hey Hawke, I have a wonder..." The dusky pirate asks as she runs her hand up the bare arm of the rogue walking beside her.

"Yes Isabela?" The rogue shivers with anticipation of what is to come at the mere touch of Isabela.

"Why in hell, has Lady Man-Hands asked us to come here? Is the big bad guard captain afraid to come out to the Wounded Coast to retrieve a package? Or are her guards to lazy to handle such a trivial task?"

Marian stifles a giggle, "Now, Bela... you know the reason why Aveline has asked us to come out here. The guards are too busy playing babysitter to the templars to come all the way out to the Wounded Coast. And besides we were bored. Orisino is too afraid to come out of his room, for fear that Meredith will flay him alive, to give us a job to do." Hawke kicks at a rock in the middle of the path. "Who knows maybe we will find treasure?"

"Ooo... I do like treasure! But, there are other things I could be doing right now..." A devilish grins plays across the pirate's face, causing the Champion to stop in her tracks.

"What kind of other things?" Marian smiles goofily as she thinks of all the things Isabela is referring to.

"Like drinking at the Hanged Man of course!" Isabela laughs as Hawke's face fell, "Aww, sweet thing you know I am only joking with you. You are the only thing I wish I was doing right now." Isabela moves closer to Marian wrapping her arms around the rogue's neck. "Maybe we can make a little detour right now and pick up the package a little later. Big girl doesn't have to know the reason why we are a little late. We could just say that we ran into some bandits along the way and she would be none the wiser." The pirate starts trailing kisses across the other woman's neck, causing her to shiver again.

"B-but, what about Merrill?" Hawke stutters out as she feels her body giving in to the pleasure she was receiving.

"Where did Kitten run off to? Last time I saw her she was chasing a butterfly further ahead of us."

As if right on time the blood mage ran towards the two women who were still on the verge of a full make-out session, "Hawke! Isabela! I-it's the Corterie! There are about twenty-five of them and they are this way!" Merrill gasps as she doubles over to catch her breath.

"Shit!" Isabela swears as she moves quickly away from Marian. "That's why Big Girl didn't want to send her men here, the damned Corterie would tear them to bits! Now she wants us to go after a bloody package and we take the axe to the back... or sword or whatever these gits carry with them!"

"Now Isabela... Aveline probably didn't know they would be here. She would never want us to get hurt, would she?"

"No Kitten, she wouldn't. I'm just a little upset is all, this was supposed to be a easy job. Now, it has turned into a bit of a problem. Hawke, we should have brought the others with us just in case something like this was to happen." Isabela states as she unsheathes her daggers and faces the part of the path that Merrill had just ran from. "Kitten, how about making your way to that patch of boulders there. I don't want to have to worry about you while these bandits try to attack us."

The little elf nods her head in agreement and runs towards the location she was told to go to, silently building energy for a spell to give the mercenaries a nice little surprise.

"I never seen you care for someone as much as you do Merrill, Bela." Marian states as she pulls her own daggers out of their sheathes. "I think I should feel a bit jealous."

"Oh come off it Hawke! You know everyone in our group has to watch out for Kitten and Sunshine, otherwise you would gut us in our sleep!" The pirate's eyes widen as she sees the first two Corterie members appear at the top of the hill. "Can we have this conversation after we kill the bad guys?"

"That sounds like the best plan I have heard in a long time." Marian replies with a smile as she throws a miasmic flask at the two bandits, causing them to cough and sputter, leaving them helpless to Isablea's opening attack.

The scourge of the seas quickly decimated the two men before the cloud of smoke dispersed, "If they come like this, two at a time, we will have no problem ridding ourselves from their poor judge in attack."

As soon as the words came forth from Isabela's mouth the rest of the Corterie tramped down the hill. "Spoke too soon my love!" Hawke yells out as she dives out of the way of a large axe that an equally large man was carrying. "Next time, why don't you give them tactical advice before they ambush us?"

"Of course! That is exactly what I am doing... I am channelling my energy to them and giving them every opportunity to cause us bodily harm." Isabela retorts as she kicks the man with the axe in the groin, causing him to drop to his knees with a scream. In one swift movement, the pirate's dagger slit the downed man's throat then was quickly released from her hand, sheathing itself in the back of a female bandit who was nearing Merill with short sword ready to stab the mage in the back. "Kitten, I know I told you to keep safe over there... but for the love of anything can you give us a bit of a hand?"

"Oh, of course Isabela. I just got so excited watching you two fight that I lost focus. It is almost like watching a dance!"

"Of course it is..." Hawke grumbles as she wrentches her dagger out of the shield of one of her attackers. _'Maker's Breath! Isabela was right we should have brought extra people with us on this trek... I thought we wouldn't have any trouble considering everyone is running scared with this whole templar versus mage shit. Where is another apostate when you need them?'_ She thinks to herself as fatigue starts to settle in.

Almost as is by magic, emerging from the inky blackness of despair, another hero appeared much to the wanton hatred of the mercenaries that had took notice. Daggers flashing in the summer sun, sheathing themselves in the unprotective skin of the bandit's necks and between the hinges of their cheap plated armour. Five more of his men fell before the leader of the band of Corterie knew what was going on, "Archers! On the flank!" He yells out as two more of his men fell to their deaths, each with their throats slit open.

_'Bollocks! There's more of them?' _Marian thinks to herself yet again as she watched in amazement at their new-found help. The mysterious rogue disappeared in a cloud of smoke from the flask that had been thrown by said rogue.

"Where the hell did that person go?" Marian asks as she throws one of her daggers at one of the archers, who was aiming at Merrill, dropping yet another mercenary to the ground.

"I don't know Hawke, but I do like their style. But a bit on the short side if you ask me." Isabela replies as she backstabs another member of the Corterie, that had become disoriented from a spell that Merrill had cast.

A loud whistle from the edge of a small wooden area drew everyone on the battlefield's attention. Suddenly, a barrage of arrows cover the field dropping the remaining mercenaries

Marian looks around at the bodies that littered the ground; _'Who in Andraste's name was that?' _she thinks to herself as she cleans off her daggers, waiting for their mystery saviour to reveal themselves. She didn't have to wait long, for two cloaked figures emerge into the clearing. "Thanks for the help back there. I didn't realise there would have been that many of the Corterie out this far."

"It was no problem." The taller of the two spoke, feminine and obviously Orlesian. She removed her hood and bright red hair shone in the sunlight.

"Sister Nightingale?" Marian asks, clearly confused by the sight of the woman she had met a couple of weeks prior.

"Why is this shem calling you 'Sister Nightingale,' Leliana?" The other hooded figure asks as she pulls her hood down, revealing short sandy hair and elaborate facial tattoos.

"Lyna!" Merrill cries out, running towards the other elf. The blood mage wraps her arms around the rogue in a fierce hug. "I should have known it was you. I thought I would never see you again after you left with the Wardens. Keeper Marethari told me to forget about looking for you after you fought the Archdemon, but I couldn't I tried finding ways to contact you but every trail I took went cold."

"Andaran atish'an, Merrill." Lyna returns the hug from the other elf before speaking again. "I can understand why the Keeper did not wish for you to find me... I was gone for some time trying to help clear out these bands of strange Darkspawn that could talk in Armaranthine, that I didn't have time for anything else really. Then after that I had to find Leliana here in Kirkwall. Oh... speaking of which, I want to introduce you to someone who has become very special to me..."

"Oh! So it is true... Our Lyna fell for an Orlesian shem! Wow, I would have never expected that from you, especially the way you would talk about shemlen before you left!"

"It took some time, but... I believe we got past our differences." Leliana says as she places a comforting hand on Lyna's shoulder, causing the elf to blush.

The three women continue talking while Marian and Isabela begin to loot the bodies of the deceased Corterie. "So... Isabela?"

"Yes sweet thing?"

"That is the Hero of Ferelden that you told me about? I thought that she was ten feet tall and shot lightning out her eyes?"

"I never said that... but, I guess that is what the Darkspawn thought about her... Wait, you're jealous again aren't you?"

"No." Marian replies quickly and turns her head so the pirate can't see the blush spreading across her cheeks.

"Aww, how cute! You are jealous! You have nothing to worry about sweet thing. I mean she was good... really good; but, you are a hundred times better." Isabela purrs into the Champion's ear.

"Hawke! Isabela! Come meet my clan mate!" Merrill yells out happily, jumping up and down with the energy of a four-year old.

"This is going to be awkward." Isabela mutters to herself as she sees the look of recognition cross Leliana's face, causing the normally playful blue eyes to darken in suspicion.

Once Marian and the Rivaini made their way over to the three other women, the elfin blood mage started on the introductions. "Hawke, I know you have met Sister Nightingale, I mean Leliana before in the Chantry at Kirkwall..."

"Now that I hear your real name, I believe we have met before Sister Leliana... in Lothering." Marian smiles as she remembers the woman before her, _'Bethany would have an absolute fit if she weren't trapped in the Circle right now. I remember how much of a crush she had on this particular lay sister.'_

Leliana's eyes lit up upon the hearing of Lothering, "Wait... you're Leandra's daughter, are you not?" Hawke nods her head and smiles. "How is your younger sister? Bethany was her name, no? It has been so long since I have been away from the Chantry in Lothering that I may have forgotten some people's names."

"No, you are right... Bethany is doing pretty good considering they have her locked up in the Gallows."

"What in bloody hell is the Gallows?" Lyna asks irritably, hating the fact that this so-called Champion knew her Leliana before she did and also disliking the fact that she noticed that Isabela was also with the other two women she and her bard had rescued.

Merrill and Leliana both place a hand on Lyna's shoulders, both knowing from her tone of voice that she was rather jealous of the fact that Marian was smiling more and more in the direction of the red-haired bard. "The Gallows is a horrible place, where they keep all the mages locked up tighter than a Chantry sister's knickers." Isabela says out of nowhere, causing everyone to turn and face her. "What? It's true! I mean seriously how many Sisters in the Chantry do you know that would willing pull their bloomers down for anyone to have their way with them? I guess present company excluded." The pirate says with a snicker.

The bard's eyes darken again, "I have you know, I never took the vows. And I never as you say, 'dropped my knickers down' for anyone save for one person in fifteen years... _Captain Isabela!_" The name was spat from Leliana's mouth as if it were poison.

"Oooo, I'm all a quiver." Isabela rolls her eyes. "I guess it took you long enough to realise what you had wanted was right in front of you eyes the whole time, but alas... you were too caught up with your Maker to notice her until someone else had taken an interest in her. But I digress... I am not here to take away your little Hero," The pirate slides her arm around Hawke's waist and pulls her closer. "I have my own Champion that keeps me up until the wee hours of the morning."

Lyna looks around at the women around her, wishing she could crawl into a hole like she had done before in the Fade. Not only was she standing right beside the love of her life, the pirate queen she had slept with just to learn how to duel and also to make Leliana a bit jealous, and the woman who was now the centre of the attention of said pirate; but, she also had the first person she had ever made love to standing on the other side of her acting as if nothing ever happened and no one else was the wiser. Clearing her throat to gain everyone's attention, who seemed to have been ignoring her since the whole spat between the bard and the pirate started, she finally spoke. "Yeah, I have heard a lot about you Serah Hawke. I am glad I was able to pull your arse out of the fire. But Leliana and I have a bit of business to attend to in Ostwick. Maybe if time permits and the troubles that I hear coming out of Kirkwall haven't exploded out of control yet, we will meet again and hopefully under better circumstances.

Lyna and Leliana walk away after the Dalish woman gave Merrill another quick hug, leaving the other three women staring in the direction they left. Hawke turns to Isabela and crosses her arms in front of her chest, "So Bela... why in bloody hell did you have to start up that Chantry Sister like that?"

Isabela shrugs her shoulder and peers out towards the sea, "I don't know... I guess when I first met her I thought she was a little good girl, who always got what she wanted. And I always knew that what me and the Hero did got under her skin but she was too much of a saint to do anything about it. And you know me Hawke, I don't like when people think they are better than me."

"Is that all?" Marian prods, unconvinced of the pirate's answer.

"By Andraste's flaming knickers, Marian!" Isabela throws her arms up in the air. "Okay, okay you win. I was a bit jealous at how you were ogling that bard."

The Champion snorted, "Really Bela? I wasn't ogling her... I was just remembering how much of a crush Bethany had on the woman. If you wanted to see ogling, we should have tried to see we could have had Bethany with us. We would have had to put her eyes back into her head before we could move out again. Now come on, let's get out of here before more bloody mercs come after us." Marian and Isabela continue walking down the path towards where Aveline said the package would be located, calling out to Merrill when they noticed the lithe elf was not following.

Merrill is startled out of her memories from the past, as she stares down the path the first two women had left down. Wiping away a solitary tear that had found its way down her cheek, she casts one look over her shoulder to make sure neither Hawke nor the pirate were close enough to hear her. "Fear not, emma lath. I never forgot what you meant to me." Merrill murmurs before turning on her heel and heading down the path to catch up to her friends.

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_**Final note: **For the readers who may not know a lot of the Dalish elf vernacular the phrase... **emma lath** means my love._


	3. Relaxing After a Hard Day's Work

_**A/N: I was replaying parts of DA2 the other day and I noticed that I had accidently misspelled Coterie! I apologise for that error in my writing, I made sure that when I wrote this chapter that I had spelled it properly. I would like to thank the people who have alerted this story and would also like to thank pertinax for the review. (I love writing, as well as all sorts of forms of the Arts, but reviews are like a good cup of coffee, always welcomed! If there is anything any of you readers out there would like to see in the up coming chapters, drop me a PM.) Anyways... onto the chapter!**_

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"Do you think I need a bath?" Isabela asks out of nowhere before the two lovers rounded the corner to The Hanged Man.

"Where did that question come from?" Hawke asks with a smile still plastered to her face as she thought about all the things her and the pirate had just done at her estate.

"Well... since we really didn't use your bath to particularly clean ourselves with while we were there I was wondering if you thought I needed another bath." The pirate shrugs her shoulders at her comment but the look in her eyes told what she really meant.

"You just don't want to go to The Hanged Man do you?" Hawke asks playfully as she noticed the sly smile that spread across Isabela's lips.

"Aww, fuck it! How can you tell when I am lying? Everytime I play Wicked Grace with anyone, I can lie and cheat my arse off but with you... you always can tell when I am lying. It's not fair Marian."

"Well when you are playing Wicked Grace with the people down at the tavern, they are looking at your assets not your face or hands." Hawke states, adding emphasis to her statements by staring at her lover's barely covered breasts. "I, on the other hand... watch everything about you so I can easily pick up on what you are thinking. So I know you are lying about the whole thing of another bath, but I can't tell the reason why."

Isabela grabs Hawke by her arm and pushes her up against the side of a building. Using the small seconds in which the rogue was taken aback by the movement, the pirate presses herself against her prey. "The reason I don't want to go and spend a few hours with our friends is because I want to be ravaged by you again. Simple as that sweet thing. I have much more fun with you by our lonesome, than when our friends are with us." The dusky woman purrs into the trapped woman's ear causing the woman to shudder and grip the pirate's waist tightly.

"Well, you could have just told me that before." Hawke says with a grin, "So... do we go back to my place or do we sneak into your room at The Hanged Man?"

The pirate pauses for a moment and backs away from Hawke just enough to where Marian could get an unobstructed view of her said assests. "Hmmm, that is a tough decision. It takes too long to get back to your place in Hightown; but, if we try to sneak into my room, we may get found out by our friends. For some reason they always seem to know when we are about to be naked or something."

Hawke was staring at Isabela's breasts the whole time, unable to comprehend what her lover was actually talking about. Not the one who would pass up a chance at any opportunity that presented itself to her, Marian bent her head down slightly and started lavishing the top of her lover's breasts with her tongue.

Isabela hisses in pleasure at the senses that were coursing through her body, all caused by the skilful play of her lover's tongue. "Shit... Marian." Her hips buck once on reflex into Hawke's. "No time..." The pirate pants out.

"Hmmm." Marian mumbles through her ministrations.

"Fuck going anywhere else... We do it here!" Isabela finally says as she arches her back, allowing Hawke more access to her chest.

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Meanwhile in The Hanged Man...

"Where is Hawke and Rivaini? I thought we are all supposed to meet for Wicked Grace and drinks when they got back from that little job you gave them Red." Varric asks as he looks around the room for his favourite drinking buddies.

"Varric... how many times do I have to tell you that I hate when you call me Red? And besides how would I know where the whore and Hawke are? They should be here, after all Merrill is here. Did they say anything to you about where they were going after they dropped you off at the Alienage, Merrill." Aveline looks toward the elf, waiting for her to respond.

"No... Wait. Yes, they said something about going to the estate to take a bath. I can understand why, I mean after all the Coterie that we fought off this afternoon and how dreadfully hot it was on the Wounded Coast. I needed a nice bath myself. But what I don't understand is why Isabela had to go to Hawke's place for a bath when she has an adequate bathtub here at The Hanged Man." Merrill says as everyone shakes there head, still not understanding how after seven years of spending time with the two rogues, the small elf did not understand that simple phrases like 'taking a bath' or 'going to a hat shop' always meant the two were having sex.

"I guess we should go ahead and start the game after all. They will show up when they show up. Hey Blondie, you in?" Varric calls out to the sullen mage sitting at the furtherest edge of the table.

"Sure why not... maybe it would get the images out of my head about those two anyway." Anders mutters as he moves closer to the group.

"What's his problem, love?" Donnic leans in and asks his wife before taking a swig of his ale.

"Anders is still a bit miffed at the fact that Hawke would never be with him. He still harbours a major crush for her, but will never openly admit after the fact that she told him that she would make his manhood disappear if he tried to do anything to her, Bethany, Merrill or Isabela again." Aveline makes a motion with her hand as if she was cutting with a dagger.

"Oh..." Donnic stares at the mage who took a seat beside the dwarf who was dealing cards. "Why does he still hang around if she threatened him like that?"

"Only I know what happened that day... so if he were to leave without a trace, others would take notice of it and then Hawke would have to explain why he had left the group and she just can't lie to anyone within our little gang. So he stays but does not come any closer than he has to of Hawke or the other women of the group."

"I understand now." Donnic says as he glances at the healer in a new light and watches as Anders eyes flick back and forth between the table and the door.

As if by que the door opens revealing the two women they had been waiting for, both women looked slightly disheveled and had huge grins on both their faces.

"By Andraste's holy knickers! You two did not do what I think you did on the way here did you?" Varric asks as he sees the two rogues approach their usual table.

"Whatever do you mean Varric?" Isabela quirks an eyebrow as she questions the dwarf and sits down on the other side of the table, grabbing the bottle of liqueur and bringing it to her lips.

Hawke smiles at everyone, save for Anders, and sits down beside the swarthy pirate, wrapping her arm around said pirate's waist. "Sorry about having you guys wait on us... it took a bit longer than expected to clean all that blood off." Aveline rolls her eyes at the poor excuse of a comment, while her husband, Donnic, blushes profusely.

"Yeah, yeah Hawke. Whatever... are we going to play cards are not?" Varric asks as he starts shuffling the deck in his hands and eyes everyone at the table.

"I think I will go home for the night." Anders replies as he gets up from the table. "I just know I will have a long day at the clinic tomorrow, with all the trouble the templars have been causing as of late." Marian casts a death glare at the healer causing him to quicken his pace and almost run out the door.

"I don't even want to know why he ran out of here like he had a horde of Darkspawn after his arse, but I do have a question for you Big Girl, why in hell did you send us to do that bloody job for you? I mean there were bloody Coterie out there and that damned package wasn't even that big! Also, why in bloody hell was in that package that is so bloody important? I mean there were quite a few things that I wanted to do today and none of them dealt with battling that damned band of mercenaries. So, you at least owe us an explanation as to what was in that package... and if it was gold, by all means you can bloody pay us for killing those Coterie members!" Isabela states as she motions for Norah to bring over more bottles of the house special.

"Well, first off the contents of the package are none of your damned business, whore. And the reason I didn't send any of my guards is because Hawke riled the templars up yet again with that last stunt she pulled trying to break Bethany out of the Gallows!" Aveline turns her attention to their wise-cracking de facto leader, who was currently stealing the bottle of brandy from her lover's hand. "Honestly Hawke... How could you possibly think that breaking into the Gallows in broad daylight would help Bethany any?"

"I would have succeeded if you didn't yell my name out, causing everyone to look for me! I was halfway up the wall when you did that!"

"Okay...say you did get in there and got to her, what would you do next? You wouldn't be able to get her out the same way you got in there."

Marian's face fell in defeat, "I... I didn't think that part through."

Isabela leans against Hawke's shoulder while her free hand slides under the table and gives the rogue's thigh a gentle squeeze. "It's okay, sweet thing. You could have always used Big Girl here as a battering ram to create a hole in the middle of the stone wall and then she could have scolded all the templars to death!" The pirate throws her head back and laughs as she notices the guard captain's face become bright red with embarrassment.

"I swear... one day I will hurt you whore!" Aveline stands up aburtly and stalks off to the front door of the tavern, tossing any poor drunk who got in her way.

"Don't worry... she will calm down. She had just a bit too much to drink while waiting on you two to get here." Donnic whispers to the Champion before following after his wife, apologising profusely to the poor sods who had gotten in her way.

"Dammit Rivaini... by the time I try to deal this game we won't have enough people to play! And I wanted to win back all that money I spent on Red's wedding present." Varric says with a sigh as he shuffles the cards again and looks around the room for someone who is drunk enough not to remember how much he and his group cheat at the card game.

"Relax Varric... I have it on good accord that you didn't lose a single copper, let alone a sovereign on that gift you bought them." Marian edges closer to the table, grinning slightly.

"Hawke, you wound me... are you implying that I stole that loving gift I gave to Red for her most blessed of days?"

"I would never wound you, Varric, but I do know a certain Antivan merchant in Hightown that wants to though. Luckily, he doesn't know who had taken his wares, I have talked to him and told him I would look into the theft from his stall." Marian smiles over her pint of ale, taking a sip before speaking again. "I thought you would like to know that I told him, as of yesterday, that the search was still on going for the thieves."

"Why thank you Hawke, I didn't realise you cared so much." Varric says with a smirk, "But enough about me and my life... what happened out there on the Wounded Coast? Daisy told me that you three had ran into the one of her clan members while out there, they didn't try to rough you up any did they? I mean especially after what happened the last time we had went to their camp."

"No, it wasn't exactly one of the ones we met on Sundermount, Varric." Isabela starts as she glances up from the cup she had been refilling with whiskey. "This one happened to be the one and only Hero of Ferelden, along with that Sister Nightingale that we met at the Chantry a few weeks ago."

"You're shitting me Rivaini!" Varric's eyes grow wide and the cards lay forgotten in his hands.

"She shit's you not Varric." Marian replies, "We were walking to the location that Aveline said the package would have been left at when the Coterie ambushed us. To be honest I didn't think we would make it... there were just too many of those blighters around for us to gain the upper hand, but then out of nowhere the Hero appears and kills like eight of them then she just disappears. Then when we think we are going to be skewered by the archers, she reappears with Sister Nightingale and a barrage of arrows filled the sky and killed off the rest of the mercs."

"So, Rivaini... was it difficult to see one of your more famous one-night stands pull your arse out of the fire?" The dwarf asks as he smiles at the pirate.

"Oh stuff it, Varric! I had no problem meeting her, I only had a problem with her little Chantry Sister making eyes at Marian." The swaswbuckler exclaims as she turns her head so her friends could not see the blush that had started to form on her cheeks when she mentioned that she was a bit jealous.

"Oh I get it now!" Varric throws his head back with a laugh, "I thought I would never see the day when Rivaini would get hit by the big green monster!"

"An abomination came after you Isabela?" Merrill looks over at the group for the first time since the two women had entered the tavern. "Are you okay? I never knew an abomination to be green, but I guess that they could be any colour... much like fabric."

"He doesn't mean an abomination, Kitten. He is just saying that I got jealous of that red-headed Orlesian staring at Hawke. Which I wasn't jealous." The pirate states matter-of-factly, though underneath the table her hand was gripping Marian's as if she would die if the rogue ever let go of her.

"Oh... I can understand that. I am a bit jealous of that shem as well, though for other reasons." Merrill covers both her hands over her mouth after her last sentence slipped out, "I mean she has spent so much time with Lyna, someone who I knew ever since I became the First for our clan and as you all know I haven't seen her since she left with that shem, Duncan and I..."

"It's alright Kitten, we understand. You had a bit of a crush on her when you two were younger." Isabela reaches out with her hand, that wasn't under the table holding Hawke's, and gently squeezes the mage's hand. "I can understand how a first crush can be a bit heart-breaking, granted I never had one myself... I was sold to the first sod who could pay my mother enough money. But I eventually was able to come to terms that things such as that are fleeting and that true love is something that is a hundred times better." The pirate looks over at the woman beside her and gives her a shy smile.

"But it isn't because she was my first crush! It is because she was the one I lost my innocence to!" Merrill blurts out, causing Varric and Hawke to choke on their drinks.

"What?" Marian is the first to speak and stares incredulously at the elf. "I knew you have seemed a bit off since we left the Wounded Coast but I would have never known that meeting your first would have did that to you. I thought it was because you haven't seen her in awhile."

"Well, there was that... but when I saw the happiness in her eyes, I knew she had moved on from what we had and it hurt Hawke. It really hurt." The lithe elf covers her face with her hands and cries softly, causing three rogues to look at each other tentatively before moving to comfort the woman.

"It will be alright, Kitten. You will find someone else that will put that spark back into your life. You are a great catch for anyone and if they don't see that then they are as blind as a nug." Isabela says as she wraps her arms around the blood mage, trying to find some way to help her from hurting anymore. The pirate stares up at her lover and silently pleads with her eyes for Hawke to help her out.

"She's right Merrill, you will find someone who will make you forget that she ever left you in the first place."

The elf cries harder causing Hawke to step back slightly and stares at the other two with confusion written all over her face. Once the sobs subsided, Merrill spoke again. "I know that Hawke, it's just that I would have at least thought she would have remembered. I mean don't get me wrong... I am extremely happy for her b-but..."

"It still hurts, right?" Varric says, finally speaking since the whole conversation had turned south.

"Yeah... you know what? I am sorry I am not in a better mood for our little get together. So I will just go on home so the rest of you will have a good time." Merrill shakily stands up from her chair and walks towards the door.

"I'll walk her home, you two just go on and have fun for the rest of the night." Varric says as he walks past the two women and out the door following closely behind the still crying mage.

"What did I say that caused Merrill to cry harder?" Hawke asks when their two friends had left the tavern.

"You don't know sweet thing? She had the biggest crush on you when she first met you and it kind of broke her heart when she found out that the only treasure you were after was mine." Isabela says as she grabs the two full bottles of brandy off the table and saunters towards the door. "Varric was right you know... we can still salvage the rest of this night. I mean I feel awful about Kitten but I know she is a lot tougher than she looks and if I didn't know any better, I would say that she has turned her feelings towards someone else, and that is the reason she wasn't an absolute mess... well, more of an absolute mess than she was. But... I could be mistaken." A smile etches its way across the pirate's face when she reveals that she has a secret that she has yet to tell her lover.

"Who, does she have a thing for now?" Marian questions as she follows Isabela out the front door of The Hanged Man.

Isabela turns her head towards Marian, who was still trailing slightly behind, "Let's just say she has a bit better method of getting into the Gallows than you do, my love."


	4. Dawn of a New Era

_**A/N: I would like to give a big thank you for the views I have received for this story... I really wasn't sure if I should have continued with writing it, but I received a very inspiring review from Anton-The-Rogue so... I decided to see where this story would take me. Come hell or high water!**_

* * *

"I really don't know how we did it!" Aveline states as she stares back at the ruins of Kirkwall. A place her and the rest of their motley crew had called home for the past seven years.

"Sheer willpower and determination..." Varric says with a smirk. "Aww shit... it was just dumb luck to be honest, Red. But what I said before would be perfect to write down as part of the story." The dwarf reaches into his satchel and looks around with confusion. "Hey! Where in bloody hell is my parchment? I hope I didn't leave it in The Hanged Man!"

"How in the name of the Maker, did you know what Isabela and I were doing before we got to the tavern that day, Varric?" Hawke asks as she peers over the parchment she had stolen out of the dwarf's satchel as they made their way to the docks.

"Hawke! How dare you take a man's writing before he is finished with it! Sure, it is about you and I would love for you to read it before I get it bound for sale, but wait until I am finished. I still need to work a few kinks out." He tries to reach for the paper but fails as Marian lifts it just slightly out of his reach.

"Let me see that!" Isabela snatches the parchment out of her lover's hands and starts to read it. "Really, Varric? I seriously don't think people would want to read that about Marian and myself... if you could make it a bit more expletive, then maybe you would get a more people's attention." The pirate bursts out laughing when she sees the look on Marian's sister, Bethany's face. "Oh come on... you mean to tell me that you don't believe that the more raunchy a description of a sex scene, is the better?"

"Before you even try to answer that one Bethany, let me just say that I do not think any of us should be talking about anyone's sex life while we should be on the alert for any leftover templars." Aveline says with finality as she casts her gaze from left to right, ensuring no one will get the jump on them.

"Spoiled sport." Isabela replies petulantly while sliding closer to Hawke. "Hey sweet thing, what say you about dropping Lady Man-hands off at the first deserted island we see and we sail off into the sunset?"

Marian laughs quietly as to not draw the attention of the guard captain, "You know if we do that she will only swim her way back to find us."

"That is true... I didn't think of that. But on a more serious note..." The pirate reaches for the champion's arm causing her to stop. "How are you feeling? You didn't get hurt when we had to fight Meredith, did you? I saw you had too many close calls back there and it scared the shit out of me."

"Isabela... I told you before I am fine. I believe you should know me by now." Hawke tries to walk faster as soon as she eyes her lover's ship in the moorings.

"Yes, I do know you Hawke, and I know how you don't like to make a fuss about your well-being. I remember that time you passed out because you told Merrill you were fine. I thought you would never wake up once I carried your arse to the Alienage and had Merrill heal you properly. You know I am only looking out for your health. You didn't even let Bethany take a look at you after we defeated that mad arse bitch and Cullen let us leave." Worry etched the pirate's face as she came closer to her lover and noticed she was breathing a bit harder.

"Well, she seemed a bit preoccupied after the battle, taking care of Merrill's wounds and all. I didn't want to disturb them." Hawke looks back at her younger sister and the elf, walking hand in hand a few metres behind them. "I would have never thought that Bethany would have fallen for a blood mage."

"Ex-blood mage, my love. You know, I think Kitten is exactly what your sister needs, someone who is as innocent as she is. They almost act like little children together, always smiling and blushing whenever their gazes lock on to one another." Isabela stops as a thought passes through her mind. "Hey! I know what you are doing Marian! You are trying to change the subject. We were discussing you, not your sister's relationship."

Hawke turns swiftly around to retort when suddenly the colour drains from her face and she falls to the cobble-stoned street that edged the the wooden landings of the docks. "Marian!" Isabela cries as she hurriedly closes the few feet of distance that had separated them. "You bloody fool! I knew you weren't alright!" She exclaims as she lifts the other rogue's head up into her lap as the rest of the group rushes to their fallen leader's side.

"What the hell happened, Rivaini?" Varric asks as he sets down Bianca, his favoured crossbow, and looks uncertainly about Hawke's person, trying to find the cause of her current state.

"W-we were talking and I asked her if she was alright. I know she had quite a few close calls during that last battle with Meredith and she said she was fine. She even started talking about other things to keep me from asking about her well-being. Then next thing I know she faints." Isabela croaks as she tries to keep her emotions from breaking over the already fragile dam she had created. Before the pirate had met Marian and the others, she had learned to keep all emotions hidden from anybody and everybody. To the point where even the swashbuckler herself didn't think she knew how to feel. All of that changed when she became part of their rag-tag group, everyone, including Aveline had found some special place in her heart. But, none held dearest save for Marian and then Merrill.

"Let me have a look at her." Bethany says as she tries to pry her sister's body out of the protective grasp of Isabela. Once she was able to inspect her sister without the pirate's hands in the way, the healer was able to magically sense the ailment that was effecting their leader. "By the Maker, she was grazed in the stomach by that dreadful sword that Meredith was wielding."

"Will she be okay?" Isabela asks, afraid that her voice will give out at any moment.

"Luckily, she is not a mage... the lyrium that the sword was made from would have killed her even from a small nick. But it is still causing her harm, the infection is spreading rapidly. We need to hurry and get her to your ship, Isabela. So Merrill and I can heal her properly." Bethany, with the help of the pirate, hoist Marian's unresponsive body up from the cold, hard cobblestone. "I will help you carry her."

"O-okay." Isabela replies feebly as the fear of possibly losing the one person she has ever loved rips through her body.

* * *

Her eyes flutter open as she hears gasping breaths and feels something wet hit her shoulder. The ground underneath her sways back and forth, causing her to groan in protest to the movement.

"Marian!" She hears the melodious voice of her lover exclaim in surprise close to her ear then she is pulled in to a searing kiss. Before she could even respond in kind, Hawke feels Isabela move away and slap her hard on the shoulder. "Don't you ever do that to me again! I've been crying my bloody eyes out for the past two candle-marks before you do me the courtesy to wake your sodding arse up!"

"What happened?" Hawke grumbles hoarsely as she looks about her and realises she is in the captain's quarters of Isabela's ship.

"You almost bloody died on me, sweet thing." The pirate replies more softly while tears of relief trail paths down her bronzed cheeks. "It took Bethany quite a long time to heal you..."

"But it was just a graze!" Hawke exclaims, trying to move out from underneath the blue satin sheets of the bed she was laying on.

Isabela places a firm hand on Marian's shoulder to keep her from rising. "A graze from a sword made of lyrium. A substance, I might add, that can harm someone who has non-magical blood running through their veins. Like I was saying before, it took your sister quite a while to heal the gash properly."

"Where is Bethany now?" Marian asks when she notices her sister is not in the room. "And how long was I out for?"

Isabela reaches for Marian's hand and absent-mindedly starts playing with the rogue's fingers. "Bethany is resting in the first-mate's quarters next door. It took a lot out of her to heal you. She was at it for five hours before she was able to get all of the lyrium out of your system. So, you were passed out for seven hours." She stares intently into Hawke's eyes before speaking again. Her voice cracking slightly. "Promise me you will never do that again. I-I thought I almost lost you."

"I promise Isabela." Marian slowly leans up from the plethora of pillows that adorned the pirate's bed and kisses Isabela lovingly, conveying without words everything that the pirate meant to her and a promise that everything will be alright.

"Oh... It seems Hawke is awake after all." Varric interrupts the tender moment between the two women by barraging in unannounced. "Hey do you want us to come back in a few hours?" He looks around as if slightly embarrassed that he caught the pair in an emotional moment.

"Did you say Hawke is awake, Varric?" Aveline asks as she walks through the partially closed door into the captain's quarters. "Oh... I wouldn't have expected you to still be in here Isabela."

"Where else would you think I would be?" The pirate asks, her hand still holding tightly onto Marian's.

"I thought maybe you would actually be commanding your ship or pretending to at least, since you claim you are a captain." The guard captain states as she moves closer to the bed Hawke was lying in. "But I am not here to make low jabs at the local slattern... I came to see how you are doing, Hawke."

"I'm doing great... considering that I've been unconscious for seven hours from a minor scratch." Hawke said sarcastically as she moved around uncomfortably, hating the fact that she was having to lie in bed when there was still a lot to do.

"A minor scratch!" Aveline shakes her head gruffly before starting back up again. "I will have you know that sword was made out of lyrium. Lyrium that drove Bartrand crazy might I add! So of course we were all bloody worried about you! Hawke, I swear you really need to be more careful, what if she had drove her sword in a bit deeper? What would we have done then?" The guard captain paces the floor of the cabin as her mind runs rampant with all the ideas that could have happened to their leader, while Marian moved around, made even more uneasy the more the fiery red-head spoke. "And besides..."

"Why did he have to pull that shit?" Isabela ponders aloud in attempts to draw the guard captain's attention off of Marian.

"Why did who do what?" Aveline questions, annoyance colouring her response.

"Anders, of course." Isabela responds, ignoring the annoyed look the red-haired guard captain gave her. "I mean none of this would have happened... Well, let me rephrase that. None of it would have happened then if he didn't decide to blow-up the Chantry with everyone in it. Marian had everything under control until the Chantry blew sky high, which by the way I would have loved to have learned what recipe he used for that explosive." The pirate smirks when she sees Varric's, as well as Marian's, face light up with all the ideas of what they would have done if they had their hands on that type of fire power. "I mean, just a little bit could have let us see what real treasures were hidden at Château Haine."

"Yeah, it's a shame you let Choir Boy kill him off before we asked him the recipe, Hawke." Varric states sadly as he remembers all the places they couldn't explore because Cahir and his men were after them.

"Who says I didn't take the formula off him after Sebastian killed him?" Marian grins mischievously as she dramatically waves her hand in the air the plunges it directly into the front of Isabela's tunic.

"Marian, I don't think they want a show!" The pirate exclaims. "What in the Void are you doing?"

"Give me a second." Hawke replies as she pulls a bit of parchment out from between the pirate's breasts. Waving the parchment about, Marian spoke. "I nicked it when everyone thought I was checking to make sure he was dead. Also, I took his coin purse. It should still be in you satchel, Varric."

"When did you put that there?" Isabela asks as she looks between her breasts to see if Hawke had put anything else there.

"I'm surrounded by bloody thieves and lunatics." Aveline states as she hangs her head. "At least Donnic is here."

"You love us all, Big Girl." The pirate smirks as she sees the guard captain shake her head remorsefully.

"Wow, Hawke. You've gotten really good at placing shit on us without us finding out about it!"Varric jingles Ander's coin purse before placing it on the dresser. "I didn't even know it was in there and I had rummaged through my satchel not that long ago to pull out my quill to start writing down everything that had happened yesterday."

"Maker... Don't tell me you are writing another story about my exploits, Varric?" Hawke groans as she covers her face with her hands. "Don't you think enough people are already bored to tears when they even hear my name? And besides, shouldn't we make plans on how to use this bloody formula, instead? I am more than certain those Orlesians are now gone from the Château, so I think by the time we restock and turn back round. I will be out of this bloody bed by then and we can see what all we missed while running through those dungeons." Marian had uncovered her face and was grinning madly at the thought of finding more treasure.

"Just do me a favour, Hawke." Aveline states as she walks towards the door of the room, "Make sure that when we restock in Ostwick, you leave Donnic and myself at the docks. I do not want to be a part of this treasure hunt you are devising."

"I will be more than glad to give you an emergency boat, Big Girl!" Isabela grins as she squirms about in the wooden chair she was sitting in. "The quicker we get your sour dour arse off my ship the better!"

Aveline slams the door in response to the pirate's exclamation, leaving the three rogues to sit quietly, if only for a brief moment. "Well... here's to a dawn of a new era for the Champion of Kirkwall!" Varric cries out as he pulls a bottle of Antivan brandy out of his satchel. "Who would have thought that the saviour against the dreaded Qunari would become a privateer!"


	5. Ostwick

_**Author's note: Sorry it took a bit longer than expected to finish this chapter. I had to bookmark the map of Thedas just to make sure I did not give any misinformation! Also, I have been writing on some of my other stories that I ended up having a bit more ideas for than this one (I'm not saying that this isn't one of my favourite stories to write, it's just I didn't have any ideas for it springing up at me until recently.) Okay... enough of my prattling and on to the chapter!**_

* * *

The journey from Kirkwall to Ostwick was uneventful, to say the least. No contingents of templars followed the merry band of misfits as they traversed the Waking Sea. Marian's health had fully returned by the time the Siren's Call II had docked at port.

"Do we heave to go a shore? Can't we just drop Big Girl and her husband off here and sail off into the sunset?" Isabela asks Hawke as soon as they stepped on to the gangplank.

"Now Isabela, I would have thought you would have wanted to retrieve the components to make that explosive. After all, Varric said there is a Tevinter shop here in Ostwick and who better to have the ingredients for the concoction than the people who created it! Because I do not feel like traipsing through the sewers for Sela Petrae or travelling in a cave full of dragonlings for drakestone. I did not do it for that sodden git, and I am not going to do it now when there is a perfectly good shop here in the Free Marches that can cater to our demand of odd requests. Do you?"

"Even though my sister is sounding like Varric..." The dwarf looks up from the docks at the mentioning of his name. "She has a point. And besides... Marian is still too weak to battle dragons, even if they are dragonlings." The mage Hawke replies from behind the two rogues. "I really shouldn't allow you to even make this concoction, Marian. Who knows what could happen to you, especially since you are just now getting better from the injury you substained from battling Meredith."

"Maker! You sound like you should be the older sibling, not me!" Hawke says petulantly, turning around to face her younger sister after making her way out to the wooden docks.

"Well, if you didn't act like a child, I wouldn't have to treat you as such." Bethany retorts as she crosses her arms in front of her chest. "Just promise me you will be careful when we travel back to Château Haine."

"I promise... and besides I will have Isabela and Varric with me when I go inside the estate. It is not like I am going by myself you know."

Hawke smiles when she feels Isabela wrap her arms around her waist, pulling her closer. "I promise I will not let anything happen to your sister, Bethany. To be honest, I don't know what I would do if she got hurt again like she did."

* * *

During the trip from Kirkwall to Ostwick, Bethany and Isabela had talked about the pirate's relationship with Marian. The total journey should have taken only a day, but with the fear of templars chasing them down and catching them with Hawke still on the mend caused the pirate queen to have her crew take a longer route towards the city in which they were now docked in. That left plenty of time for the two women to talk about the woman that both cared deeply for.

"_Now Bethany, I know how much you did not like me in the past. But, I promise you I would never ever hurt Marian." Isabela states as she hands the mage a mug of ale before sitting down in a chair opposite of said woman, at a table in the empty galley. Marian had finally fell back into a fitful sleep and both women thought that they should take a well deserved break._

"_That's a laugh, Isabela... you left my sister for three years. THREE YEARS! Do you know what that did to her? It almost killed her. And to see her like that while I was stuck inside the Gallows was the most heart-breaking thing that could have ever happened to me. I had to have Merrill keep an eye on her because I couldn't! I thought we were making progress on her, trying to take her mind off of you. Then you came waltzing back into her life as if nothing happened! Sure, I see you have changed..." Bethany stares into the contents of the mug and sighs. "But every time I see you two together, I remember those times she cried her eyes out on my shoulder after you left."_

_The pirate tugs at the red bandanna around her arm, her symbol of her affections for the eldest Hawke sibling. "I know..." She runs her hand over her face as her own personal demons of the night she had left, run through her mind. "Every time I see those scars on her shoulder and her stomach, I feel like a complete and total arse. She came close to dying just to save me, and all I could do was run away. Scared of my own feelings for her... I know that whatever I say to you can not take away your feelings about me leaving, but know this... I will never hurt her again and I can promise you that."_

_Bethany stares at Isabela, noticing the tell-tale signs of sleep deprivation. She also noted that the pirate still had traces along her cheeks, were she had been crying earlier. "What did you do while you were gone? I know that was a few years ago... but, I never got around to ask. I don't think anyone did." She asks softly when she sees the pirate's eyes mist over from thinking about the past._

"_I got passage on a ship headed for Denerim. I stayed away from everyone, keeping to myself near the bow of the ship or in the holds. I couldn't bear to stand near anyone let alone talk to them. Once I got to Denerim, I ran into a friend of mine and she set me up with a job on one of her ships. It was quite a step down from captain, but it helped me keep food in my stomach and whatever I had left over I saved. I knew I couldn't stay living like that any longer than I had to."_

"_You didn't bed anyone while you were gone?" Bethany asks with a raised eyebrow, thinking that Isabela's story would have been a bit more dangerous and sex-filled._

_The pirate laughs softly before taking a sip from her pint of ale. "No... I didn't. One day you have to realise that a lot of my stories were nothing more than fantasies spun for attention." Isabela looks up shocked for a moment and then shrugs her shoulders. "Shit, I must be more drunk than I thought to let that one slip!" The pirate laughs again. "I know you won't tell anyone what I said... the only person who really knows that is your sister. To be quite honest with you, __Marian is the only person I have actually been with since we started our little trysts."_

_The mage stares at Isabela disbelievingly, "You mean that for almost nine years... you have never... save for my sister?"_

_Isabela smirks and nods her head, "You see, I am not the depraved whore that Aveline wants everyone to think I am."_

* * *

Bethany smiles as she sees the sincerity in Isabela's eyes as she spoke. "I know you will... I just don't know how Varric will act with all that treasure around."

"I won't act any differently Sunshine! You know I will always make sure I have Hawke's back, no matter what." Varric hoists Bianca onto his shoulder and stares up the way towards the centre of town. "We need to hurry if we are going to get to Marcus's shop before it closes for lunch." The dwarf walks on ahead of the group, picking his way through the large crowd of morning shoppers towards his acquaintance's shop.

"Well, I guess this is goodbye Hawke." Aveline states, causing the rogue to turn and face the red-haired warrior. "I guess maybe not a complete goodbye... I mean, you will all come for a visit, right?" The guard captain looks at the rest of her friends hopefully.

"Of course we will, Aveline." Bethany says, reassuring the woman before she starts second-guessing herself about how close she actually was to the people she had considered her friends since their departure from Lothering ten years prior.

"Yes of course we will." Hawke replies after hearing her sister's comment beforehand. "And I promise you we will bring you a bit of treasure, like a sword or perhaps maybe a new shield, from whatever we find within Château Haine. I just wish that you would change your mind about coming along with us... you never know when we might need your help."

"Yeah..." Isabela pipes in, "We might run out of explosives and have to use you as a human battering ram!"

"I swear... one day I will break you, whore!" Aveline says with a smile on her face. She had become quite used to the banter from the pirate and they teased each other in that condescending way, more as a way of friendship than of actual threats. Turning to Hawke the red-haired woman smiles again, "You know, I can't always be there to pull your arse out of the fire. Besides, Donnic and I already told Sebastian here that we would accompany him back to Starkhaven."

"Aye, it's true." Sebastian says as he walks off the gangplank towards the rest of the group, his pristine armour glinting brightly in the mid-morning sun; Fenris walks slowly behind him, glancing to and fro for any danger that might be near. "I have finally decided that I will reclaim my family's right to the throne... after everything that had happened at in Kirkwall, I feel that it is best that I place my attentions on my people just in case something similar happens there."

"I understand Sebastian. Well, maybe we will visit you there when we get a chance." Hawke says as she shakes hands with the prince, relieved that he was actually leaving their presence. Not that she didn't like him as a person or anything; it was just when it came to the jobs they had to do, he would always complain about the moral reasonings of why they shouldn't do what she had decided to do. And the fact that he hated Isabela was enough reason for her to be glad that he was leaving; no matter how much she may like a person, she would gladly toss them to the Darkspawn if they had any problem with the pirate, except maybe her sister.

Knowing that if Hawke ever came to visit him she would bring Isabela, Sebastian clears his throat. "I think it will be some time before I will have time for visitors, Hawke. I will need to get everything back on track after the fact of what the Harimann's had done to my family, something that I can never thank you enough for. But, I must do this myself... Fenris has pledged himself to help my cause, so I will not deny his help but I feel I shouldn't drag everyone into my endeavours. I must do this on my own." The prince walks away after his speech with the lanky elf trailing a few steps behind him.

Isabela chuckles softly to herself, causing Marian to look at her, "What's so funny?" Hawke says as she decides to start walking in the direction Varric had walked in.

"They are..." The pirate answers as she follows after her lover. "They are soo obvious, I mean when did Sebastian ever deny help? He practically swooned when you first answered his missive about the group that had killed his family. Then whenever he found out more information about the rats behind his family's demise he begged you to help him, saying he couldn't do it alone. I think more than anything... the Chantry Boy wants to be alone with tall, dark, and broody." Isabela finishes with a smirk.

"You've got to be kidding me Isabela?" Hawke says after she thinks about what the pirate had said. "Those two? Together? I would have never thought that! I mean of course I thought Sebastian was always letting his eyes linger a bit longer than normal on any man that passed by him, but I would have never expected him to end up with Fenris!"

Bethany laughs as she listens in on the conversation between her sister and Isabela. She and Merrill had followed behind quietly as the two rogues talked, taking in the scenery of Ostwick. "Now come on sister! I would have thought you would have known by now! Merrill was the one who told me about their relationship while I was still in the Gallows!"

Marian turns to reply when she notices a small elfish girl running towards them with a letter clutched in her hand. "Messere Hawke! Messere Hawke!" The young girl cries as she comes closer to the group of women. Hawke stops the group and waits for the little girl to catch up to them.

Allowing the girl to catch her breath once she reached their location, Hawke kneels down to her level and speaks softly. "I am Hawke... are you hurt? Is everything okay?" The rogue stares at the little elf girl trying to assess the situation. The girl was no older than ten. Her brown hair was plastered to the sides of her cheeks due to the sweat that was running down her face from her journey during the already hot summer day; and her clothing, with its off-cloured patches in various states of age, marked her as a citizen of the local Alienage. Other than that, there was nothing that Hawke could see that would make her believe that the girl had been hurt but, she could not rule out the idea that something was going to happen or was already happening.

Once she had finally caught her breath, the little elf lifts her head up and stares with her emerald green eyes straight into Hawke's steel grey. "I have a letter for you , Messere Hawke. I was told to give it to you, but I can not tell you who it is from. You have to read it... inside everything will be revealed." The little girl runs away as fast as she had came and disappears into the crowd.

Marian straigthens up and flips the letter over and over in her hand. There is no unique seal that has closed it to give her any indication on who it was from and there was no name on the front of it to actually suggest it was for her to begin with. Sighing at the thought of being dragged into yet another adventure, she rips open the envelope and takes out the bit of parchment that lay within. Hawke quickly glances over the missive and sighs again. Looking at the trio of women in front of her, she shakes her head. "I don't think we will be going to Château Haine just to crack open the vaults anymore."

Isabela quirks her eyebrow as Marian passes her the parchment, "Oh bloody hell... It's from the Grey Wardens. Your little friend from the looks of it Kitten."

Merrill tries to reach for the missive to read it herself, but Bethany reaches her hand out to stop her from taking it. "What does it say Isabela?"

Isabela clears her throat, "It says: _Messere Hawke,_

_I am writing to you in regards to what happened in Kirkwall. I have eyes within the Free Marches that have spotted you heading towards Ostwick, but I covered all the cities in between with people loyal to me to give you this message. Once you have stocked up with supplies, I need you to travel to the location that has been circled on the map that I have given you. When you are there you will await further instructions... I will know if you ignore my request. _

_Commander of the Grey Lyna"_

When Isabela finished reading the letter she folds it and hands it back to Marian, who was peering over the map she had received within the envelope. "If we are not going to the Château, where will be heading now, sweet thing?"

Marian stares up from the map, her face whitened under the mental strain which she now felt after being haunted by a name of a town she had not thought of in over five years. "We will need to wait for Varric, when he gets back we will grab all the supplies we need. Then we head for Lothering."


	6. Storm Before the Dawn

_**Author's Note- **__Wow, it has been a bit of time since I have updated any of my stories. Normally I am very scheduled in my writing, (trying to at least updated one story or more a week) but alas, work has been a bloody nuisance and I haven't had even a moment to my own self, let alone to write. But, the proverbial shit storm at work has subsided and now I can breath (and write, though it may take a bit longer for me to write since I haven't a clue how the hell I bruised the bone in one of my fingers in my left hand!) I know, I know... here's the chapter you have been waiting for. I am sorry that it is a bit lengthy in dialogue but I felt as if I needed to flesh out Marian's past and why she acted the way she did when the elf girl's missive mentioned Lothering._

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Heading back to Lothering felt like going back in time for Marian. During the trip across the Waking Sea, Hawke did nothing but stare off into the forever reaching skies, watching as the clouds shift and change across the blue backdrop. "How long has she been standing like that?" A voice behind Isabela asks, startling her out of her watchful gaze over her lover.

"Since about two candle marks before dawn broke..." The pirate rubs her eyes as she turns around to look at Bethany. "She has calmed down quite a bit from earlier, I can tell going back home is really bothering her. I wish she didn't decide to go. I mean we all have been on the run from someone at one time or another... what is so different now?"

Bethany looks over to where her sister was leaning against the railing, and shakes her head. "I believe she feels that since it is the Grey Wardens, they will do something to any of us if she doesn't cooperate. Especially, since the Commander of the Grey knows you and Merrill; and her lover- the bard, knows Marian, you, and me. Believe me when I say that if it was anyone else wanting her to go back to Lothering, she would have ignored it and we would still be in the Free Marches. There was too much that happened there for her to want to go back."

The pirate looks at the younger Hawke and sees the pained expression in her eyes. "You know... Marian never talks about what happened there. I mean she told me that your twin brother died but other than that she never said anything else, and I would never force the issue with her. I can understand when someone does not wish to discuss their past. Hell, I don't even talk about my bloody past that much."

Bethany looks back to her sister quickly before motioning Isabela to follow her further away from the bow. Once at a safe enough distance, the youngest Hawke speaks. "Yeah... there was a lot that happened in Lothering that causes my sister to act the way she does." The pirate eyes the mage questioningly, causing Bethany to elaborate. "Don't get me wrong, it was not all bad. I apologise if I made it sound as if we had a horrible life there. As you know, my father and I both were apostates, so we had to move while we were growing up... mainly because of me." The youngest female Hawke stares out into the distance, taking in the beautiful morning sun as it made its journey higher in the sky. "I was about six when my parents found out I possessed magic. Carver, Marian, and I were out playing in the nearby woods, just outside of Redcliffe... that is where we were originally from, when Marian and I decided to rest by the water's edge. Carver had went off chasing a squirrel or something, so Marian decided to tell me a story about pirates and treasure." Bethany shakes her head softly and looks at Isabela, "I guess she had a thing for pirates for a long time... well at least from the age of ten on. But anyway, I remember she had gotten to a part of the story where the hero of the story- which was a female pirate- was about to pick the final lock on the vault door of the castle that held the most beautiful gems in all of Thedas, when suddenly a dragon swooped down and attacked. We were so caught up in the story that we never realised that Carver was lurking behind a boulder, listening to the story as well. When Marian got to the part about the dragon closing in on the hero, Carver had jumped out of his hiding spot, startling both of us."

The mage takes a deep breath and laughs shakily, "It was a stupid prank, he was always doing something like that to me. There was one time he nailed my braid to the headboard of my bed...But, I was telling you the story of the reason why we had to leave Redcliffe. I got so scared that I started to scream, but that wasn't the only thing that happened. I can't really describe it but it was like my fear shot out of me..."

"That was the first time you used magic." The pirate states, feeling that the younger woman was at a loss for words.

Bethany smiles sadly, "Yeah... You have probably seen an oddly shaped scar running across Marian's chest , right?" Isabela nods her head. "Well, when Carver had scared me, a firebolt shot from my hands and it hit Marian right in the chest. She screamed in shock and jumped into the lake... she only stayed in there just long enough for the flames to be quenched by the water only to wade back out again to calm me down." The mage pauses as a tear falls down her cheek. "Her shirt was torn and blackened and her skin was bubbled and a ghastly red, I was so scared after that happened. I thought she would hate me forever for harming her, but she wrapped her arms around me until I stopped shaking. And when I was calm, she stood up and punched Carver right in the nose. We were a right mess coming home after that happened. She made sure we took a longer way home, that didn't pass the Chantry... she had carried me the whole way back to our house, because I couldn't even stand without holding onto something."

"What happened then?" Isabela asks as she stares at the mage, anxiously waiting for the rest of the story.

"Well, mother saw Marian running towards the house, with me in her arms, and Carver trailing behind with a bloodied nose and tears running down his reddened cheeks. She was about to lash out at Carver and Marian for fighting, but when Marian set me down beside her and fainted dead away on the front porch, mother ran back into the house to get father. Father burst outside and scooped Marian up in his arms and ran to the kitchen. He inspected the burns on her chest, after removing her tattered tunic and sighed shaking his head. He knew this day would come but he didn't know when. After he healed Marian and put her in her bed, father took a look at Carver's nose and shook his head. _'Let me guess... you tried scaring the girls, causing Bethany to lose control of the magic she didn't know she had, and Marian took the brunt of the damage but she was still able to knock you on your arse and carry your sister back to the house.' _After father said that, Carver broke down crying saying he would never do such a thing again. The next day we were all loaded up into a wagon and moved to Lothering."

Bethany pauses and walks towards the railing and leans against it, the sea wind softly blowing through her brown hair. "It took some time to get use to living in Lothering, but father said it was a lot safer than Redcliffe because it was further away from the Circle Tower. I was never as hurt as I was that day. I had single-handedly forced us to move from our home to a place that was new if not somewhat frightening for me. Marian sensed how I felt and quickly told me everything would be fine, and for awhile it was. The years passed by and we all made new friends and everything felt as if nothing had ever happened, the only difference was father would take me, Marian, and Carver out into the forest so I could practise my magic." Bethany smiled at a memory that crossed her mind, but before Isabela could ask what it was, the mage's face tightened into a mask of pain. "It wasn't until years later, when Marian was sixteen, that father fell sick. He was always so healthy that it shook the foundations of our very lives to see him turn into a mewling invalid in a matter of a few short weeks. Mother would constantly ask him what happened, because she seemed to know that it wasn't some natural disease that was quickly transforming him into a husk of his former self. He would never answer though, he would just try at a failing attempt to smile before closing his eyes to fall asleep. The next month he died, that was when Marian told me what had happened. She and father were out in the woods training with daggers when a group of bandits came into the clearing. Father had told Marian to run back into town and get help, but she was stubborn and stayed her ground, not wanting anything to happen to father." Bethany looks towards the bow of the ship again, thinking of how many other fights her sister had been in and how many of them had ended in close calls for the eldest of the Hawke children. "From what she had told me, the fight didn't last very long. The bandits never suspected how truly adept both Marian and father were at handling daggers. But, even though the fight was over after a few minutes, the damage had been done. Father had been struck by an arrow that had been poisoned with Magebane."

"But, Magebane isn't deadly to mages." Isabela interrupts, "It only keeps a mage from using their powers by disrupting the mana that is in their system. Also, how did the archer know to use that poison?"

"It was a group of men that father knew a long time ago. As you probably remember, mother had told us about a time when father used to be part of a mercenary group while he was on the run from the templars in the Free Marches."

"Yes, I remember hearing Leandra tell that story before." The pirate says as she thinks back to a time she was visiting the Hawke family when they had lived at Marian's uncle's house.

"Well that particular group of bandits was a group that had remembered father because he had sent their leader to prison, and after that day the leader's brother had sworn vengeance. Like you said, normally Magebane would just keep a mage from casting a spell, but father was hiding an even deeper secret from everyone including mother. He had been very sick for a long time, I really do not know what the sickness was, neither does Marian. But when that poison-tipped arrow pierced his skin and the Magebane coursed through his blood, the enchantments that he had placed upon his-self had been removed and by then it was too late for him." The mage's eyes begin to water as she thinks back to the whirlwind of emotions she had felt back then. Even though it had been nearly fourteen years since that day, she felt the grief tug at her heart as if it were fourteen days ago. "The day father died was the day Marian started to shut herself off from everyone. Sure, she would laugh and joke around like before, but those were the only emotions she would show... well, those and anger. I believe maybe her anger was clearer than her mirth, because there were several instances where we were almost ran out of town because of her 'defending' me from the people our age."

"Well, what's so wrong with an older sister defending her younger sibling Bethany?" Isabela asks, as she looks on at the mage waiting for her to continue.

"Nothing, except when the older sibling in question almost makes a boy lose the use of his legs for laughing when I fell in a mud puddle. Mother had to talk the militia out of flogging Marian... in the end they decided it would be better to have her serve her sentence serving in the army, fighting Darkspawn. Carver joined as well, trying to prove that he was, in fact, better than Marian. He never understood the reason why mother and father had always treated her the way they did. He thought it was because they loved her more... he couldn't have been even more wrong. Our parents loved us all equally, but they knew that Marian was more dependable than Carver, so she was given more responsibilities." Bethany pauses as she wipes a tear from her eye. "He was so stupid... he never paid attention to all the ways father had tried to include him in everything. He only saw what he wanted to see, and that was father spending time with me and Marian. Carver would just push everyone away because he felt they were always trying to measure him up to Marian. He was quite jealous of her abilities, he never once thought about all the hours of training Marian put herself through or the fact that she was four years older than him. The day we found out that the army had fallen at Ostagar had been the day we found the two of them at the door, completely drenched with rain and Marian half carrying Carver. She told us that we had to leave, that the Darkspawn horde was larger than anticipated and King Cailan had been double-crossed by Loghain. I only had enough time to quickly heal the worst of Carver's wounds before we set off through the Kocari Wilds, fleeing from the Blight."

"And that's when Carver died, right?" Isabela inquires as Bethany nods her head.

"That bloody ogre came out of nowhere and was headed straight for mother... if he didn't try to taunt it so she could run away, we would have lost mother instead. Even though Marian dealt the killing blow to the beast, she still blamed herself... saying she wasn't quick enough, even mother blamed her in her blind grief. I tried to tell them both that it was no one but the ogre's fault... but when I saw the tears fall down Marian's face... I couldn't speak. It was the first time I had seen her cry since before father had died. When we had finally made it out of the Wilds, with Aveline in tow, and aboard a ship that was heading to Kirkwall, Marian finally spoke. She told me that as long as she lived no one she cared for would suffer or die on her watch, that everything would change once we landed in Kirkwall. She said it was the least she could do after losing father and Carver. And she did... she found a way for us all to live in Kirkwall, with the help of Uncle Gamlen, and she fought so we could always have food on the table. To be honest, it was strange to see her so serious and determined. Don't get me wrong, Isabela... she has always been the determined sort but never that serious, it wasn't until she met you that she started to act like her normal self. I guess I should thank you..."

Isabela shakes her head after hearing about her lover's past and stares at Bethany blankly, "Thank me for what, Bethany?"

"For being at the right place at the right time, I guess. If Marian had never met you, the storm that weighed over her soul would have never lifted and she would still be sullen and serious and probably would have never did half of what she had accomplished in Kirkwall, at least she would not have done it unless it benefited us."

Both women stare silently at each other, when they hear footsteps echo off the wooden planks of the ship's deck. "I was wondering where you two were." Hawke says as she forces her lips into a smile. Turning towards Isabela, Hawke kisses the pirate on the cheek. "One of your crew members spotted land a few leagues away. We should be landing near Armaranthine shortly. Once there, we should be able to procure the supplies we need for our trip to Lothering."

Marian's normally playful grey eyes darkened as she spoke the last word, causing thoughts of the conversation Isabela had with Bethany to flood the pirate's mind. "You know Sweet Thing, I could have my men just turn the ship around. We don't have to go there... we can travel somewhere else. We... we could go to Rivain or Antiva... hell, we could even go to Orlais. Let's just leave before we even dock and sail where ever our hearts' desire."

The older Hawke glances at her younger sister and smiles knowingly, "I see Bethany has told you a few things that I have neglected to mention about my past." Turning her attention back to the pirate, Hawke wraps Isabela in a warm embrace and whispers in her ear. "If you had asked me, I would have told you everything you wished to have known."

"I was worried that I would have brought up bad memories for you... and didn't want to cause you more pain than you were feeling now." Isabela pulls out of the embrace and stares Marian in the eyes. "I could see you were hurting, but I didn't want to pry. I felt that given time, you would have told me why you looked the way you did when the missive mentioned Lothering. Bethany just decided it was better that she told me than for you to reopen old wounds."

Hawke looks away from the beautiful pirate and stares out onto the open sea, her face set in clear determination. "No... the wounds have always been open, the only way to have them heal is to go back to where it all began."


	7. The Road to Lothering

_**Author's Note: Sorry it has taken some time to update this story... I have been quite busy with other stories and seemed to also be a bit stuck on this one. But here it is... I hope you enjoy!**_

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Rolling hills, once lush and green, now marred with dead trees stretching up towards the sky, like skeletal hands breaking through the brambled grounds. The air settled around them as if in its thick stillness it would not sustain them as it should. A dry, barren lake bed comes into view as the companions travel through the broken ground, causing Bethany to gasp audibly. "I would have thought, that after ten years... things would have went back to normal." The mage's gaze flits across the wasteland before her, focusing on nothing but still taking in every nuance of the world around her.

"No matter how much time has passed, I do not think Lothering will ever be the same Bethany." Marian says with a sigh. She hated being back. Everything reminded her of how much they had lost since the last time she and her sister had been there. Carver. Mother. And even Aveline's husband, Wesley. All their images flashed through the rogue's mind... ghosts of the past, here to haunt her for believing that none of this would faze her, when in fact she knew, since she received the missive, that everything would come back and bite her on the arse. Shaking her head to clear the gruesome pictures that seemed to float in and out of the forefront of her mind, Hawke quickens her steps towards the small hamlet.

After several minutes of following behind her lover and their leader, Isabela calls out to Marian. "Hawke... Sweet Thing. Can you slow down a bit? It's not like the whole bloody town will up and leave if you take your time!"

Marian stops and turns to face the pirate, "I know..." The rogue says almost too quietly. "I... I just want to get this over with as soon as we can. I don't know what will happen... there are too many ghosts here. I don't understand why she wants me to meet her here... of all places in Thedas to meet, she had to pick this bloody place. We just need to hurry... I am getting a bad feeling about the whole situation."

"Hawke..." Isabela says as she places a hand on the other woman's shoulder. "You are not making a bit of sense. I understand that this place holds an awful lot of bad memories for you, but you can't let that get to you, Sweet Thing. We are all here and nothing is going to happen."

"Now you've gone and ruined it Rivaini!" Varric cries out as he walks closer to the two women. " You had to say that nothing was going to happen... now an army of Darkspawn or Qunari are going to jump out of that little patch of weeds there and kill us all!"

"That's impossible Varric... isn't it Bethany?" Merrill looks over at the mage beside her, eyes searching for an answer that would speak against Varric's rant.

Bethany smirks, "You know Varric... he is always exaggerating everything he says.

"But it's true Sunshine..." The dwarf says as he turns to face the two mages. "Anytime any of us say something like that, something bad happens. It never fails!"

Isabela and Marian had, since a few moments before, stopped listening to Varric as they see shadows heading towards there position in the grove of trees thirty metres on their left. "I think it is a bit too late to be grousing over what Bela said, Varric." Marian says as she quickly slides her daggers out of their sheaths. "We have company."

Looming shadows grew more pronounced as their real counterparts moved closer to the clearing. The shortest of the group moved completely out of the grove of trees towards the band from Kirkwall. "So I see the Champion still follows orders after all." Lyna says as she removes her hood from off her head. "I was wondering if the runaway Champion would have came back... as I recall Lothering and Kirkwall aren't the only ruins you have escaped from. Ostagar was the first am I right?"

Marian clenched her fingers tighter around the hilts of her daggers, "Your signal came too late... the troops were outnumbered ten to one against the Darkspawn, maybe even more. King Callian was dead as well as the rest of your Wardens... and what was worse is that my brother as well as myself was injured. What would you have wanted me to do? Stay and die with the rest? I had my mother and sister to think of as well, the Darkspawn would not have let them live if I had died. Do you think they would have just said, 'Oh allright, this lot has had so much death in their family we might as well let them pass on through.' You know bloody well that wouldn't have happened." Isabela places her hand on Hawke's shoulder to try and calm her lover, but to no avail. "So yes... I left Ostagar with my brother and then I left Lothering once Carver was back on his feet. And yes, I left Kirkwall while the bloody place burned to the ground, much like you took the easy way out yourself. From the way I hear it, you allowed the marsh-witch to perform a ritual on the eve of battle so you could save your own sorry arse! You may be the Hero of Ferelden and the bloody Commander of the Grey, but in the end you are just like me. Saving yourself and your loved ones from the clutches of death."

The elfish Warden merely smiled during Marian's biting remarks, "Are you quite finished?" Lyna walks closer to the Hawke and her friends, causing another hooded figure to move out from the trees.

"Lyna, my love... I think you have riled her enough for today. Why not tell her what is going on? I am more than sure she will help our cause if you don't induce more discomfort, no?" Leliana says as she places a soft hand onto the arm of the Dalish rogue.

"What cause?" Isabela asks before Marian could even utter a sound.

"Why the ending of what she started of course." Lyna says as she stares at the pirate. "You didn't think that the rest of Thedas would stand by as the mages of Kirkwall gained their freedom? Leliana had told you before... all eyes were on what has transpired in the Gallows of Kirkwall. You should know better than to think that the rest of the mages in Thedas would stand by and watch as their brothers and sisters became unshackled by the Chantry. The world as we know it is changing. Whether the change be good or ill, it is coming and there will be more lives lost if we do not act."

"What does this have to do with bringing me back to Lothering?" Marian asks, unsure if the elf had any other tricks up her sleeve or if she was even telling the truth at all.

"I merely wanted to see if you would come here. Call it a test..." The Grey Warden looks over to her Orlesian lover before she continues. "A test to see if you have what it takes to put away your past to help your future. I know not all mages are bad... I had two in my group when we were saving Ferelden and I know Merrill would never hurt anything. I really don't know your sister but, she seems to be a good sort as well considering how close Merrill seems to be to her and even Anders was a good mage... I don't see him with you but I know how he was when he helped me during that whole mess with the Architect. But... you know, not all mages are like them. Some of the are horrible people and if they even have just an ounce of freedom, they will cause strife amongst others and everything will fall into an all out war. It will be worse than the Blight..."

"Anders was nothing like Merrill or my sister!" Marian spat as she realised what the elf had said. "That bloody bastard is the person responsible for this whole bloody mess in the first damn place! He was the one who caused the Chantry to explode, killing all the innocent people within. I had everything under control, though admitedly it was a slightly rocky control... but under control anyway. With the death of Grand Cleric Elthina, the Templars decided to invoke the Right of Annulment on the mages of the Gallows. Your _'friend' _caused all of this... and I merely helped the side that had been the innocent party."

"Is that the truth?" Lyna looks to Leliana, shock written on her face as she hears the news for the first time.

"I was told, in the missive we received just this morning, that what Hawke is saying is the truth. Ser Cullen, a Templar that was once stationed at the Circle Tower, here in Ferelden, had sent word that coincides with what the Champion is saying."

"Why I'm I only hearing about this now?" The elf asks the bard as she shakes her head, trying to will the harsh words unheard.

"I didn't want to say anything until we had heard what Marian had to say about the whole thing. You know how paranoid Cullen is... especially after the whole débâcle in the Circle Tower. He sees blood mages everywhere now these days." Leliana states. "And besides you would have wanted to hear it from Hawke anyway... since she was coming here and was right there when it happened."

"That makes sense." The Dalish rogue looks back to Marian and her party, "Come... there are more things that we need to talk about, but I don't think we should speak them out in the open."


	8. When It All Comes Crashing Down

_**Author's Note: **Hello everyone! Sorry I have been missing in action for so long! I kind of hit a brick wall with this story and just recently have been able to find the path that this story is to follow! I hope that there are still a few of you out there that remembers this story! So without further ado, it has been a long time coming, here is chapter seven!_

Following the Commander of the Grey in utter silence, Marian and her friends notice more and more people along their way towards the elf's encampment. And every person, Hawke noted, was not refugee or a towns-person, every single soul was military, with cold, hard stoic faces watching their every move. Isabela moves closer to Marian's side and quickly reaches for her lover's hand. "I feel like we walked into a room filled with Avelines in nothing but our knickers," The pirate whispers quietly, causing the rogue beside her to crack a smile. "Ah. There's that smile I've been waiting for, sweet thing. You had me worried that you had lost your sense of humour." She looks around to make sure no one else was paying attention to them. "What are we going to do now? I don't think killing Lyna is an option..."

"I didn't even say anything like that!" Marian says, shock written on her face at the mere notion of her wanting to kill the Hero of Fereldan, even though the thought had crossed her mind several times on their journey.

"Shh..." Isabela looks around again and continues. "I know you didn't Hawke, but I know what you are thinking. I see it in your eyes. Maybe... maybe, this is all just some thing that will pass. I mean, she wouldn't go after all mages would she? I mean she had a fling with Merrill before she became 'The Hero of Ferelden' and she also mentioned that a few of the people who were part of her group that aided her in killing the Archdemon were also mages. Maybe she has found a band of mages that are trying to rile up the Circle mages into revolting and needs our help or something."

"She wouldn't need us if that was the case, these soldiers that are encamped here could easily take care of a group like that," Marian nods her head in the direction of the many tents set up along the makeshift road they were traversing, "It almost looks as if she is preparing for an all out war. I haven't seen this many tents since Ostagar," Hawke says sullenly as recalls that one rainy night on the ruins years before, "If she has so many people, why does she need us?"

After voicing her question, Marian accidentally bumps into the back of Leliana who was walking ahead of them. Before the rogue was able to apologise, Lyna's voice breaks the silence, "I need your help because, as I told you before, all of this will turn into an all out war and I need people with experience backing our side of the battle."

Without stating any further information, the Hero of Ferelden opens the flap to the large tent that they were standing in front of and walks in.

"I guess we will find out more once we are inside," Isabela says quietly, hoping that no one could discern the apprehension that was slowing entering her voice.

Once inside the tent, Hawke's misfit band slowly takes in their surroundings. Marian had figured beforehand that this was probably the general's tent, since it was the largest tent that was in sight, and felt a twinge of malaise trickle down her spine when she realised that she was correct. The walls of the canvas tent was littered with parchment: lists of suspected blood mages, possible ringleaders, and in the centre of the main wall was a large ornate map of Thedas with markings of some sort in every land mass from Antiva to the Free Marches. Unconsciously, Marian steps forward to take a closer look at the map when she hears someone clear their throat, "I think we can wait a little bit before we go into more detail about the map, don't you think Champion?" Lyna says as she walks back towards the group, "I believe I have a few things to discuss before we even discuss the map and lists on the wall. I need to make sure that you understand the severity of the issues that have arose after the incident at Kirkwall."

"I am pretty sure we understand what happened at Kirkwall, Hero," Marian says sarcastically, "We were there, after all."

"But do you understand that even now, hundreds of mages are taking up arms against the very people who are put in place to protect them?"

"Protect them my arse!" Marian shouts, the veins in her neck pulsating with new found rage, "Do you even know what some of those so-called '_protectors' _do to their charges?"

"Marian, don't..." Bethany's voice quavers slightly, memories of living in the Gallows flash briefly through her mind.

"No, Bethany," Hawke says stubbornly, "The Hero thinks she knows what goes on inside the Circle, but she has no idea! You have no idea what those people go through! Endless and meaningless searches just because someone suspects you may have something illegal about your person and that is just one of the harmless things they have to endure! Living in cramped conditions, sometimes twenty or more mages sleeping inside a room that is almost like a cell! Armed guards who despise you simply for how you were born! Day in and day out hoping and praying to Andraste that you will not be suspected of blood magic just because someone doesn't like you!" Marian laughs bitterly, "I know the stories that are told by mages who have been within the Circle, you forget, my father escaped the Circle because of things like I have mentioned and things that are a lot worse. You had an apostate help you with your endeavours and you came from a Dalish clan, were your mages ever tormented by others just because they possessed something that others do not? I met your Keeper, Marethari, and she seemed to be the most respected and revered member of your clan. Even Merrill was placed in high regards in your clan before you had left..."

"That is true, but..."

"No! You can not stand there and try to dissuade me from my point! You grew up your whole life around free mages, received help from a Witch of the Wilds, yet you try to tell me that the Circle mages can not taste the same freedom that people you have personally known can taste! I, myself, am not a mage, but I know with every fibre of my being that the way they are treated is not the way you are to treat another person. They have no rights! Only the rights of the Chantry! The Chantry thinks that keeping them locked away in a gilded cage will keep them safe from harm that others can cause them or keep them from learning practises that could cause them to harm others. You know as well as I do that this is bullshit! Keeping someone locked away will only cause them to want to break free! To make them want to revolt just so they can feel the nice warm breeze upon their face!"

"But your Chantry says..."

"Oh! So now I have a Dalish elf telling me what the Chantry says!" Marian stares at the grey Warden, her gaze warning the lithe elf to not interrupt again, "I know what the Chantry says. I am more versed in it than you are! The Circles of Thedas were created so as not to allow mages to become power hungry like the mages of the old Tevinter Imperium, but what makes all of this so interesting is the fact that Andraste was a mage as well! So, if she had not been martyred, would she have been placed within one of the Circles after the battle ended?" Hawke pauses to catch her breath as she feels the anger ebb away, "I don't know if any of what I have said has really sunk into you yet, but I have one question and one question only, don't you think everyone deserves some sort of chance at a real life?"

The silence that follows Marian's rant is so thick, one could not cut it with a knife. After a few moments of quiet tension, Marian shakes her head and walks out of the tent. Isabela quickly follows so as to keep an eye on the very pissed off rogue.

"Marian, wait!" The pirate says as she quickens her pace to catch up with the Champion.

"What is it, Isabela?" Hawke snaps, irritation still colouring her words.

"Where are you going?"

"Away from here."

The pirate rolls her eyes, "That part is obvious my love, but where do you think you can go that she can not find you? And besides, we can not leave the rest of our friends in her company, especially with the way you talked to her. Now what are we going to do about all of this Hawke?"

"What do you mean, Isabela?"

The swashbuckler sighs, "I mean, what are we going to do about all of this?" Isabela flails her arms around in wide indecipherable patterns, "_This bloody mess! _The templars, Grey Wardens, Mages... the whole bloody lot! What are we going to do? I know you, Hawke. You always seem to know how to get our arses out of the fire, but you aren't thinking clearly right now. For this all to work in our favour you have to keep your bloody cool, otherwise, you will become a living target for the very _hospitable_," the pirate rolls her eyes, "Grey Wardens. And quite frankly, if you fuck this one up, I can not bring Big Girl into the fray, she is just too bloody far away this time."

Marian allow a slight smile to pass quickly across her face, causing Isabela to beam with joy, "Now that's my girl! We can't have you all sour dour now can we? We got rid of Ms. 'I-need-to-get-bent-at-least-four-times-in-the-morning-before-I-have-a-smile-on-my-face,' we don't need another one! Now tell me Sweet Thing, what do you have planned?"

Hawke gives Isabela a sly smile and turns to walk ahead of the pirate.

"Hawke! What the hell is your plan?" The swashbuckler lets out a groan and quickly follows the rogue.

"You will just have to wait and find out!" Marian yells out in a singsong voice as she continues on the path back to the Hero of Fereldan's tent.

"Damn you Hawke..." Isabela mutters, "This better be a good bloody plan or else I will leave your arse here in this godforsaken place." She continues walking, speeding up her pace to be able to catch up with their leader. Every step of the way, the pirate grumbles inwardly. Her mind races with negative thoughts of what could happen when they reach the main tent.

Once they reach the tent, the couple notices that someone is patiently waiting outside for them barring the entrance to the interior.

"Where on earth did you go sister?" Bethany asks when she sees the two rogues walk up the path, "I can't believe you did such a thing... well, I can, but seeing you do that is just beyond me. I thought for certain Lyna would have tried to kill you or something."

"Bethany, what happened after we left?" Marian asks with slight hesitation. The eldest Hawke mentally berates herself while waiting on the answer. She knew she should have never left the rest of the group alone with the Dalish elf. Something could have happened to any of them once she left the thoroughly pissed-off Hero of Fereldan.

"Nothing happened."

"What do you mean nothing?"

"It is exactly what I mean, dear sister. Nothing happened. The Hero of Fereldan just walked towards her desk and told us we were dismissed. I sat here to wait un-..."

"You mean we are free to go?" Isabela asks incredulously.

"No, if you had let me finished, Isabela, I was about to say that I sat here to wait for you two to get back to let you know that the Hero wants to speak to Marian in private and then we will find out what is to happen next," the mage turns to her sister and a look of worry passes quickly over her face. "I won't lie to you Marian, she seemed pretty mad, but then again, I do not know if she was just in deep thought or not. Whatever you do, don't make her even more upset than she seemed to be. Leliana stayed inside the tent, hopefully she is placating her, but I am unsure. Things have been quiet inside.

"I know what you said to her is what you believe, and I am happy that you are on the side of the mages even though Anders showed you how bad some mages can be. Let's just hope that maybe, with a cool head, you can make her see what you see."

"Okay, sister, I will try to remain calm, but if she tries to say anything else that sounds as though she wants to corral the mages up for slaughter, I may not remain calm for long." Hawke gives a slight smile to her sister in hopes that the mage would relax, it did not work. Placing her hand on Bethany's shoulder, the rogue gives it a quick affectionate squeeze, "I promise that I will remain calm, sister. Now, why don't you go and find Varric and Merrill? I am sure that they may need you a bit more than I do. You know how they are... always getting into a little trouble, especially when they are in an area that they do not know that well."

Bethany's eyes widen suddenly, in her fear for her sister's life, she had forgotten how inept Merrill, her lover, could be in new surroundings, "By the Maker! You are right! I need to go find Merrill!"

The younger Hawke races down the path towards the main encampment, looking about for the Dalish mage. A low chuckle comes from behind the Champion and a soft delicate hand traces indecipherable figures on the eldest Hawke's shoulder blade, "Now Sweet Thing, you shouldn't have done that. Sure, it is a little funny to see Bethany running about searching for Kitten, but you know that Varric is keeping an eye on her. He would never allow her to get into trouble."

Marian leans into the hand a little more, letting out a sigh, "I know Bela, but I don't want Bethany near the tent just in case things do go wrong."

"You know, you still haven't told me what you are going to do," the pirate moves her hand to the top of her lover's shoulder and gently turns Marian to face her. "Look at me..." she says softly, "I want you to promise me that you will do your best to not do anything stupid."

"Me? Do something stupid?"

"Marian, I mean it. I don't know what I would do if something happens to you when you go in there," Isabela states seriously, her eyes threatening tears though none fall down her cheeks, "I can't lose you. None of us can. We need you... I need you, call me selfish, but I do need you. We don't know what has been said between those two, and I know how Lyna can be. She is nothing like Merrill or the rest of her clan. She is dangerous and with good reason. She survived the Blight, killed a bloody Archdemon, and cleared out that crazy band of Darkspawn that had invaded Armaranthine. Lyna has been known to let nothing stand in the way of anything she sets her mind to. I just don't want you to be in her way when she does set her mind to whatever it is she wants, you know?" The pirate shakes her head and continues, "I know that sounded like shit... that explanation and all, but I just worry Marian."

Hawke smiles and places her hand on the swashbuckler's bronzed cheek, "I promise I will be a good girl, Bela. I want things to go as smoothly as possible too, I just got a bit out of hand earlier. All the things she said sounded rehearsed, almost as if someone else was making her say it or something."

"Like it was some sort of script?"

"Exactly, and it just really rubbed me the wrong way. But then again, who knows, maybe that is how she thinks, after all, she has been amongst humans now for quite some time. Maybe her time with the elves is now a distant memory or something. But enough about that... it is in the past, if I have to, I will apologise profusely and hope that she will allow us to leave unscathed."

"If that is not an option?" Isabela asks though she fears the answer.

"If that is not an option, I want you to find Bethany, Merrill, and Varric and run as fast as you can back to the coast, to the ship, and get as far away from here as possible."

"But, I can't leave you! Not again!"

"Isabela," Marian stares at her lover for a few moments before she speaks again. Her eyes convey every emotion that she can not say to the pirate, "Please... just promise me, if things do not go as we would hope, promise me you will leave with all of them. I want you all to be safe if things go wrong."

A tear slips down Isabela's cheek and Hawke's hand gently brushes it away before the dusky pirate could even register it, "I promise to get the other to safety, but I will not promise that I will remain safe. Once they are far enough away from here, I will come back for you, Marian. That I can promise you, even if neither one of us make it back out of Lothering, I promise I will come back for you," Isabela declares as she wraps her arms around Marian's waist and leans her head on her shoulder.

The couple stands in a silent embrace in front of the Commander of the Grey's tent, each woman afraid to think that this may be the last time either one see each other. Suddenly the flap to the tent opens and Leliana steps out in front of them, "Hawke... Lyna wishes to speak to you now."


	9. Happiness Comes From The Oddest Places

**_Author's Note: Sorry for the delay in this chapter, I know it has been quite some time since I have updated any of my stories, but here it is! This will be the final chapter of this story, there will be other tales for Female Hawke and her companions in this same verse, but those are for another time. But until then, please enjoy the final chapter of The Tale of the Hero and the Champion!_**

* * *

_The couple stands in a silent embrace in front of the Commander of the Grey's tent, each woman afraid to think that this may be the last time either one see each other. Suddenly the flap to the tent opens and Leliana steps out in front of them, "Hawke... Lyna wishes to speak to you now."_

* * *

Marian sighs quietly as she makes to turn for the tent when she feels a slight tug on her arm, "Be careful Sweet Thing." Isabela states quietly before giving her lover a tight smile and walking slowly down the path.

"I promise," Hawke whispers, though she knows that Isabela could not hear her. The thought of the phrase passing her lips seemed sufficient at the time, so she steels herself before reaching for the flap of the entrance to the tent and enters the confines of the canvas walls.

"Come here, Hawke."

Marian looks to the direction that Lyna's voice had came from and she notices the Dalish woman is standing beside the table that sat in the far corner of the tent staring at the parchments that littered the desk in front of her. Walking slowly towards the table, the Champion of Kirkwall takes the few precious seconds that she has before she reaches her destination to come up with a plan in case the conversation became hostile.

"I don't think you understand how much of a pain in the arse you really are, Hawke," Lyna says without looking up from the parchments in front of her, "Try as I might, I seem to not be able to persuade you to see things the way I do."

Hawke feels the tension in her shoulders lessen at the sound of the elf's voice, the Hero of Fereldan did not seem to be as upset as Marian had feared, she seemed more relaxed and understanding. "Well, I have often been told that I can be a stubborn person," the rogue quips as she closes the distance between herself and the table that Lyna was standing at.

"Hmm, I would have to agree with the person who said that," the Dalish rogue says with a smirk as she finally looks up from the parchment in front of her. "I understand what you said before, hell, I feel the same way most of the time, but the fact of the matter still remains, not all people are inherently good. I have found that out the hard way on several occasions. Sure, most of the blood mages that I have ran into in the past were mainly from the Circle and were sick and tired of the constant oversight and thought that turning to blood magic would help them in their endeavours, but there were a few who were apostates, like your sister, that I have came across as well." The elf sighs and Marian notices the stress that Lyna had been holding back from others finally seep through her stoic façade. "I honestly do not know what all is going to happen and quite frankly this whole mess has me confused, but the Chantry has called upon the Grey Wardens to help as much as we can, so here we are."

"But, I thought that the Grey Wardens mainly dealt with more... uh... Darkspawn and Blight-related matters?"

"That is true, Hawke, but drastic times call for drastic measures. The time of the Blight has passed, so now the Grey Wardens are to protect the lands of Thedas from situations in which the armies of Thedas find themselves faltering," the elf steps away from the table and walks towards the map on the canvas wall. "As you can see, every land will be effected if the mage revolt reaches its pinnacle."

"I do not understand why we have to maintain such a strict hold on the mages. The Tevinter Imperium allows their mages the freedoms that non-magical citizens have and life seems to be much happier there for everyone. No one is fearful of the crazed demon enthralled mage that could be lurking in any shadowed corner as we are, and..."

"And yet the mages there all hold slaves. Is that what you want in the rest of Thedas, Hawke? To be a thrall for someone else? To spend your life in the service of some rich master that holds your life by a single spider silk?" Lyna asks as she spins to face the human.

"No. I wouldn't," Marian replies, "But that is the difference between here and the Tevinter. Slavery is illegal here, it will just not pop up over night. We can make everything better for everyone here," the human stares at the elf, determination gleaming in her eyes, "you know we can Lyna."

"Yes we could, but at what cost, Hawke?" The elfish rogue walks over to the wall where the canvas is covered completely with parchments of faces and names of known blood mages and their accomplices, "Even if we only wipe out the blood mages and absolve the age-old sin of the mages by throwing out the Chantry's Circle, how can we keep the peace? How can you change a lifetime of thinking that has been ingrained into our civilization? Now, do not get me wrong, Marian..." Lyna turns to face the human once again while crossing her arms over her chest, "I full-heartedly agree with you, not all mages are bad and no one should be subjected to what the mages endure while under templar care, but the fact still remains that they will be safer with the rules that have been in place since the time of Andraste than if we allow them the freedom of everyone else. If we just..."

"If we just keep the mages in cages, everything will be safer and better for everyone else?" Hawke arches an eyebrow and stares at the Hero of Fereldan, "You should know how things like this end, Lyna, you of all people should know. Or have you forgotten your own heritage? Have you forgotten the Fall of the Dales?" The Champion shakes her head, "I may not be Dalish, but I remember the stories that some of your clan members told me before they moved back to Fereldan. I gained more respect for the Dalish after hearing those stories and I would have thought that someone as strong and stubborn as you would have remembered them as well.

"Also, I would have thought that after the defeat of the Archdemon and boon you asked of Queen Anora, I would have thought that you would have been one of the first people to help another group of people whose past is somewhat similar to your own people's past."

Marian turns away from the elf when it seemed that the woman did not have a response to her lecture. Walking towards the entrance to the tent, the human rogue pauses slightly hoping that her words have indeed reached the ears of the other woman and hopes that the madness of the possibility of another war will reach an end.

"I have not forgotten my heritage, Hawke. I do not think I could ever forget something like that," Lyna says in a hushed tone. "My people have always been at the forefront of my mind no matter what I have been through. I just..." The elf pauses with a sigh runs a hand over her face, "I just never thought of the mage's plight to be as similar as my own. You were right before, Keeper Marethari, Merrill, even my own father had places of high regard among the clans, yet here I am trying to ruin the lives of people who are just trying to live their own life without the oversight of someone else telling them that this is how they are to spend the rest of their lives. This all has gone on long enough," The elf walks back to the table in the middle of the tent and stares down at the large pile of parchments that covered it, "Go... I don't care where and I do not wish to know where, but just go. Things have been set in motion already and they may not be able to be stopped, but I will try."

The Champion of Kirkwall stares at the other woman for a moment, unsure if the statement was not a trick created by the elf. But when Lyna continues to stare at the parchments in front of her, Marian reaches out for the flap and walks out into the blinding sun.

"What happened? Is everything okay?" Isabela questions, standing up from her seat on a stump closest to the main tent.

"Yeah, we are free to go," Hawke replies with a smile on her lips.

"Free to go?! As in 'get out or we will hunt you down', free to go, or 'we have no use for you', free to go?"

"It's the second one Bela," Marian states calmly, though she wonders if it may have been the first sort of free to go that Isabela had mentioned that the elf truly wanted of them. "Where are the rest of our group?"

The pirate gives the rogue a quick kiss on the lips, excitement gleaming in her eyes, "Everyone decided to go look for something to eat while I waited for you to emerge from the Commander of the Grey's tent. What went on in there, Sweet Thing? How were you able to get us all out of this mess?"

Hawke wraps an arm around the swashbuckler's waist and leads her towards the trail of the main encampment, "Well, remember when I said that I thought that all the things that Lyna was saying sounded rehearsed?" The pirate nods her head and waits patiently for her lover to continue, "Well, I believe that it was. Leliana, or Sister Nightingale, has been a part of the Chantry for quite some time, so that would mean that the Hero of Fereldan has been a part of the Chantry for some time as well. So, given that amount of time, Lyna must have forgotten her own people's plight, I just reminded her of it is all."

"So? This is it? No more bullshit from the Chantry? No more 'you have to save the world or else we will kill you'? " Isabela stops the Champion and places her hand on Hawke's cheek, "We will be able to live our lives how we want to?"

"As far as I know, yes. Yes we will be able to do whatever we want without the Chantry harassing us at every turn," Hawke smiles genuinely when she sees the pirate's eyes light up with glee.

Isabela jumps into Marian's arms and kisses her passionately. When air became a necessity, the pirate queen leans her forehead against the rogue's and smiles, "So... about Château Haine... can we still go there? I mean, if you still want to and all."

"And miss out on all the treasure we missed while we were there the first time? Who do you think I am, Aveline?"

"Hawke... I hope that was a joke. I would hate to see you turn into Aveline," a voice says from behind the couple.

Turning around with Isabela still in her arms, Marian smirks when she sees the Varric, Bethany, and Merrill walking up the trail, "Of course it was a joke, Varric. I would want you all to hit me on the head with any large, heavy metal object you could find if I ever started to think like Aveline." Gently lowering the pirate to the ground, Hawke stares at the group of people that have became her family throughout the years and smiles, "So. Who is ready to find the treasure of Château Haine?"


End file.
